Mountains and Rivers, Past and Present

The Valley of Longevity was a secret realm once discovered by chance by the Medicine King Sect. It earned its name because it was rich in the raw materials needed to refine Longevity Pills. As the name suggested, the Longevity Pill was an elixir capable of extending a cultivator's lifespan. It was an exclusive secret of the Medicine King Sect and the key behind how the sect had amassed its colossal wealth. Depending on the pill's quality, the lifespan it granted varied. The highest-grade Longevity Pills were even a cut above the Tiandu Feathering Pill, capable of extending life by a thousand years. Refining Longevity Pills not only demanded herbs of the highest quality, but also required the Medicine King Cauldron as the core and eighty-one Small Medicine King Cauldrons as auxiliaries to form the World-Saving Longevity Array. Throughout the concoction process, Azure Longevity Force had to be continually infused into it. Only after seven times seven—forty-nine days—could a single batch of finished pills be obtained. Although the process was somewhat complicated, it was unquestionably worth the cost. Compared to other longevity-extending treasures, the greatest characteristic of the Longevity Pill was that it could be taken repeatedly. Though each subsequent pill was significantly less effective than the last until it eventually lost all efficacy, it was still far superior to those rare life-extending items that became completely useless after just a single dose. The Void Sea was vast and boundless, and crossing it naturally required immense courage. These Longevity Pills, along with the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Array that could place the entire sect into hibernation, were the Medicine King Sect's two greatest pillars of reliance. "These Longevity Pills truly are good treasures. A pity that before the Medicine King Sect departed, most of them were sold off and converted into reserve resources. "The remainder were kept in the hands of those elders." Li Fan checked through the inventory list of stored supplies inside the Medicine King Cauldron. Finding no Longevity Pills, he could not help but feel a twinge of regret. Yet when he remembered that the vast majority of the Medicine King Sect's cultivators were now in his clutches, and that he had plenty of ways to make them refine pills for him, he felt reassured once more. "First, I should go see what state the Valley of Longevity is currently in. "If it has remained undiscovered all this time, nothing could be better. After several thousand years, it's truly hard to imagine what the medicinal herbs inside have grown into. "Even if it has already been discovered and developed by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals... "That's fine too." Li Fan looked over the ingredients required to refine Longevity Pills; all of them could be purchased through the Heavenly Profound Mirror today. Though the prices were steep, buying them, refining them into Longevity Pills, and selling them would certainly yield a profit. Besides, Li Fan was hardly lacking in contribution points at the moment. "Nanfu Province, Jiarong Territory... "Where is this place?" However, when Li Fan tried to follow the location in Linghu Chang's memories to head to the Valley of Longevity, he ran into a dilemma. Within the current territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, no such place existed at all. "Could it be in the territory of the Five Elders Association?" An ominous premonition welled up in Li Fan's heart. "Not necessarily. After so many years and the severing of ancient inheritances, perhaps it merely changed its name." On second thought, Li Fan narrowed his eyes. He began comparing the terrain surrounding the Valley of Longevity against the modern maps of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, hoping to pinpoint the valley's location. After a grueling effort, in the end... He had no choice but to give up. "I knew the mountains and rivers of the Xuanhuang Realm had shifted over time, but I never imagined it would be this absurd." Li Fan inhaled a sharp breath of cold air. According to Linghu Chang's memories, near the Valley of Longevity was a Chongwei Mountain Range. Yet now, there were numerous mountains named Chongwei scattered across the Alliance's territory. Compared to several millennia ago, it was as if the Chongwei Mountain Range had been sliced into a dozen fragments and randomly, chaotically scattered all over the place. And that was only considering the ones that had retained their names—to say nothing of the segments whose ancient titles had been lost to history. Relying on his own strength to pinpoint the exact location of the Valley of Longevity would be no different from looking for a needle in the ocean. If he investigated every possible spot one by one and spent vast amounts of time, he could indeed find it eventually. However... There was no need. Li Fan's time was far too valuable. After pondering for a long while, he decided to leave it to the professionals. Storing the Medicine King Cauldron inside his grotto-heaven domain, Li Fan first returned silently to the Congyun Sea. Then, through searching within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he eventually made contact with a cultivator who specialized in ancient and modern topographical shifts: Ximen Yu. This man had authored a widely circulated treatise titled *A Study of Past and Present Mountains and Rivers*. Using the ruins of several ancient grand sects as baselines, he calculated shifts in orientation and position. Several results he had listed in the book had been verified by numerous cultivators, with negligible margins of error. Naturally, the Xuanhuang Realm was vast. The examples in his study were merely meant to demonstrate that Ximen Yu possessed the skill to do it. Want to determine the modern location of a place recorded in ancient texts? Spend a few contribution points, and he would solve it for you in no time! Ximen Yu's intention was obvious: to leverage this unique expertise of his to earn contribution points. Li Fan quite appreciated people who took money to get things done. To conceal his true objective, he listed over fifty ancient locations scattered across various regions from his memories in a single breath, handing them all to Ximen Yu to calculate. Taking on such a massive order for the first time, Ximen Yu was overjoyed, repeatedly offering Li Fan a discount. Li Fan simply waved his hand and declined, telling him only to hasten his progress. Having collected the deposit, Ximen Yu naturally agreed at once. He hung up the communication and rushed off to begin his calculations. The extra contribution points spent were of no consequence to Li Fan. To him, it was merely a drop in the ocean. As long as it avoided potential trouble, it was well worth it. Recalculating over fifty locations was a major undertaking, so obtaining the results would take some time. Taking advantage of this lull, Li Fan quietly made his way to Shenhua Island. Seven full years had passed since the group from the Li Realm had been brought here. Ye Feipeng, Xiao Heng, Sun Erlang, and the others had all grown into handsome young men. However, because Li Fan had set the rule that they could only leave the island once they "defeated the Tianyang puppet," they had remained stranded on Shenhua Island all this time, unable to take a single step outside. All of them were hot-blooded youths, practically going stir-crazy from confinement. Yet none dared cause trouble for Tianyang, venting their pent-up energy every day merely by sparring against one another. With a faint smile, Li Fan swept his gaze across them. Without letting them notice his presence, he entered the secret chamber within the island. This room was guarded by formations Li Fan had set up; only Tianyang held the authorization to enter. Inside stood jar after jar of bright crimson vital blood, from which faint, furious roars could be heard echoing. These had all been extracted from Ye Feipeng by Tianyang at regular intervals under Li Fan's orders. Having not visited in a long while, a substantial amount had accumulated. Even with the Kunpeng bloodline, after being bled so frequently, how could Ye Feipeng possibly grow fat? Thus, unlike his previous life where he had been a plump fellow, Ye Feipeng in this life was rather lean. Calling him an elegant, handsome young master was no exaggeration at all.